A Dining Room Makeover In My New York City Apartment Finished With New Seat Covers
How a Stylish Set of Tufted Cushionson Antique Hitchcock Chairs Finished My My Dining Room Design
You may have seen the decoration of my new apartment in New York City last winter. After seventeen years in the same home on the Upper East Side of Manhattan (a pre-war home with rambling space), we downsized to a newly renovated but smaller apartment on the Upper West Side. Moving homes can be exhausting and exciting yet it offers a unique opportunity to re-evaluate how we want to live everyday in our home.
As an avid antique lover, I was forced to edit out my collections to best fit this smaller space. I love the the new apartment with Hudson river views, and an open space plan. I can now cook and entertain guests while chatting with them over a glass of wine. The dining room space extends off of the kitchen so although it's a smart design plan, it can be tight for seating several for dinner. Originally, I brought in a set of chunky painted chairs for around my dining table but after a bit, the space felt crowded and the color of the chairs adding too much contrast. This past summer, I found a set of six Hitchcock chairs at an estate sale in East Hampton. If you are not familiar with Hitchcock chairs, I love them. These 19th century collectibles often have beautiful stenciling and they're handcrafted with special attention to detail without being too fussy, which allows them to work aesthetically well with a plethora of design styles in a modern home. Check out my Antique Tiktok on the haul following my shopping trip in the East End of Long Island. They were in relatively good condition with rushed seats and they fit in nicely with the touches of black in the space (I replaced all my lamp shades with black shades and I painted a pair of antique urns black) against a peacock, green and navy-colored dining room to give our new home what I call a Hollywood Regency sensibility.
Unfortunately, the seats are narrow and without a cushion they can be uncomfortable. But, luckily I found a set of stylish seat cushions from Barnett Home Decor. Not only are they extremely thick and plush with tufting but they have convenient tie-backs to fasten them to the seat, and they also offer two size options with myriad pattern and color choices. I chose the Tibet Spa Dining Chair Pad with latex foam fill in the standard size of 15x17 in the Mandalas blue-green color. The pattern with its subtle coloring and geometric design shape works well in my new home set against my dining room rug, the root cellar designs' oversized wallpaper. The color is perfect, and the chairs are very comfortable now! I was thrilled to learn that this American-made brand is a family-owned, women-led company with deep roots dating back to 1899 in Macon, Georgia. I love that their products are not mass produced but are designed, sewn and finished locally in their facility.
Sometimes the phrase, "out with the old and in with the new" can take on new meaning with a combination of new and old together (new cushions with a past and these old chairs), and reinforces to me how antiques and artisan-made products fit together seamlessly in a modern home. I love my new cushions, and I'm now pondering where to incorporate a set in my beach cottage as well.
My new dining chairs and seat covers from Barnett Home Decor
please note: this is a Sponsored post
dining room sources:
wallpaper and table linen by root cellar designs
mirror from the former Bunny Williams' shop, Treillage
sconces from Vaughan
Chinoiserie vintage chest from Beall & Bell in Greenport, LI
Happy Nesting
XO Tamara
